Sunday, April 25, 2010

Another vacation comes to an end. It was a mostly lazy one and I loved it. No spring cleaning got done, no porch painting, no baking. But I did manage to keep up with NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month). I have to write 30 poems in 30 days. And I'm enjoying the online photography workshop I'm participating in called Picture Spring. Reading? Some but not as much as I'd hoped.

We visited our son about 3 hours south of us for two nights and that was a nice getaway. Here's the gorgeous view I had while sitting on his deck reading:

I have to confess that I skimmed through the second half of this book. It was just too....gag-me sweet! It sounded good. Two mothers struggle to accept the deaths of their teenage sons who are killed in a head-on collision when one boy drinks and drives. The struggling, single mom of the innocent boy sues the rich parents of the responsible boy. Sounds like good fireworks, right?

Nope! Everyone gets all mushy and finds religion and, oh...I'm so glad to be done with it!

Thankfully, it was a freebie for my Kindle from Amazon.

I've moved on to The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larssonand it's so much better!

Back to school tomorrow for seven and a half weeks until summer! Can't wait to sit on the beach and read!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

I got back from Florida on Thursday evening and woke up to snow on Friday morning. And it's been snow showering ever since. That's New England weather for you!

I started this book before my Kindle mishap and didn't finish it until I got back from my trip. It's not that I didn't enjoy it; it's just that I didn't have much time to read except on the airplane. Plus, it's a long book.

Jacob Hunt has Asperger's Syndrome and is accused of murder. The story is told through his eyes and the eyes of several characters: his mom, Emma; his brother, Theo; his lawyer, Oliver; and a detective, Rich. They are all interesting and keep the novel moving forward.

I loved all the info about Asperger's and the fact that we experience it, somewhat, through Jacob.

What I missed in this Jodi Picoult book is her exquisite style. There are very few unusual metaphors or unique similes. It reads almost like a James Patterson novel. It feels like she just wanted to tell the damn story and get her paycheck.

That said, however, I did enjoy it although I felt a bit let down by the ending. It just seemed abrupt and anticlimactic.

And that picture on the cover? Jacob is 18! Sure, it talks about him as he is growing up but the major focus of the book is the present. I found that kind of misleading.

Okay, I'll stop complaining now and move on to my next book! Will I read another Picoult novel? Absolutely! If this one had been written by anyone else, I'd have loved it and not had any problem with it. It's just that I know she can do so much better.

I'm on school vacation this week so, hopefully, will get lots of reading in. Enjoy your week!

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Another cloudy Sunday. Cool, too. But the lilac leaves are about an inch long and the crocuses have popped open. The daffodils and irises are about 6 inches tall. Spring is happening even though it snowed yesterday morning.

Tragedy struck Wednesday afternoon as I was getting ready to leave school. I was rearranging my podium and it tipped over a bit and my Kindle flew onto the floor with a loud slap. I'd bought a cover for it and the cover was on and is slightly padded so I hoped it would be okay.

It wasn't. I turned it on and half the screen was fine but the other half had verticle lines all over it.

When I got home, I called Amazon and explained what happened. I knew the 1-year warranty didn't cover accidents so had my credit card ready to buy a new one. (That's how addicted I am to it!) But I just wanted to double check with the support person to see if something like this had been reported before and if there was anything I could do. He had me hold the on/off switch for 15 seconds to reset it but that didn't do anything.

"It's dead" he said. "We'll send you a new one."

"Really?"

"Yes, that shouldn't have happened with the cover on it."

Since I knew I'd be traveling to Florida on Sunday, I asked if I could pay extra to get it shipped overnight. "No," he said. "That's the way we'll ship it anyway."

And there it was Thursday afternoon! I went to my archived items and was able to download all my books.

Can you tell how much I love Amazon right now?

Anyway, I'm still reading House Rules. It's really good so far about a young man with Asperger's. I'm only 14% of the way through and am looking forward to some uninterrupted reading on my flight this afternoon!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

A beautiful, warm Easter Sunday for a change. Yesterday it got up to 80 degrees. Amazing for early April in northern NH. I spent some time sitting in the sun reading and trying to get a little color on my white legs.

Harlan Coben never disappoints. I sped through this one because it's that kind of book. Wendy is a TV journalist who exposes a pedophile on the air. She quickly realizes that he was set up and she is determined to make things right.

What is so cool about this book is that a couple characters from earlier Coben novels pop up in this one including Win from the Myron Bolitar series.

This is a book of poetry written by a woman I've "met" on different online poetry sites. When I saw that she has a book published, I just had to buy it. And I'm really enjoying the poems. She talks about her childhood and the things that were going on underneath the outer layer of her life.

I haven't finished it yet because I like to read a few then let them digest for awhile. It's nice having it nearby to pick up whenver I want.